Whilst telephone-canvassing during the 2006 Icelandic municipal elections, the author encountered an opinionated, irascible, mischievous old lady who had been living alone in a garage for 10 years, keeping in touch with the world via the Internet. Fascinated, Helgason wrote this novel based on her eventful life. His fictional heroine, Herra Björnsson, born in 1929, […]